Oliver de la Paz’s work Requiem for the Orchard was named AALW’s First Finalist in Poetry. In the collection, which was excerpted in Guernica in 2009, de la Paz ruminates on the power of memory and the tenderness and “kinetic” spark of boyhood:

“ despite all discretion, we charged,

our lips stinging from cinnamon while the open air

hummed, impossible and kinetic.”

Kumar’s and Paz’s contributions, both to Guernica and elsewhere, bring to light the diverse manifestations of Asian American literature and the incredible impact it has on their worlds. Both Kumar’s reportage and Paz’s lyric prowess investigate the diversity of their experiences—the fierce and the beautiful, unjust and the holy—and highlight the indelible power language has to make sense of it all.

Guernica is a non-profit magazine dedicated to global art and politics, published online since 2004. With contributors from every continent and at every stage of their careers, we are a home for singular voices, incisive ideas, and critical questions.